With less than 50 days to go until the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the British Olympic Association has selected 45 rowers to compete under the British flag. The 24 women and 21 men include 37 Olympic debutants alongside eight returning Olympians.

Below you’ll find the low-down on every Olympian and crew ahead of what promises to be an extraordinary Olympics.

– The Crews –

Women’s Single Scull

Victoria Thornley

Coach: Paul Reedy

Having been with the British squad since 2009, Vicky knows her way around the International scene. Tokyo will be her third Games after her appearance in the women’s eight at the London Games and the Double in Rio, where she won silver with Katherine Granger. Vicky moved to the single scull in 2017, winning European gold and World Championship silver that year. More recently, she secured a silver at the 2021 European Rowing Championships.

Women’s Pair

Coach: Hamish Burrell

The front-page story of this campaign for British Rowing, the pairing of Glover and Swann, will be the focus of every brit during the regatta. The pair first rowed together in the 2013 season, where they remained unbeaten throughout the World Cup and the World Championships. Since reuniting, they have only raced once at the European Championships, where they once again took the gold. Polly previously rowed as part of the 2016 women’s eight that took silver in Rio, whilst Helen took two consecutive gold medals at London and Rio in the pair with Heather Stanning, remaining the dominant crew throughout both Olympiads. 

Lightweight Women’s Double

Coach: Darren Whiter

Craig and Grant first appeared together in the lightweight double for the 2019 World Rowing Championships, where they took home a bronze medal. Imogen is a long-time light blue, having rowed in Goldie in 2016 before becoming a Blue for the 2017 and 2018 Boat Races – both of which Cambridge won. Craig, meanwhile, made her first appearance on the Senior Circuit in 2015, winning the lightweight women’s quad at that year’s World Championships. Since partnering up, the Craig-Grant boat has performed at the sharp end of racing, with a silver medal at the European Championships this year and a win at World Cup II.

Men’s Double Scull

Coach: Dan Moore

Thomas and Collins are somewhat household names to GB fans by now, with Collins having competed at the 2016 Rio Games, while Thomas has been a regular on the World Cup circuit, though he is an Olympic debutant for the Tokyo Games. The pair had a promising start to the season with a bronze medal at the European Championships, but a more disappointing World Cup II, missing out on a podium finish by lead than half a second, after an intense scrap with the Dutch double. The duo will be looking to medal at the Tokyo Games but will face fierce competition, especially from the Irish and Chinese. However, if they manage to take to the podium, it will be the first time since 2008 that a British Double has clinched an Olympic medal. 

Women’s Four

Coach: James Harris

For the first time since the 1992 Barcelona Games, the women’s four will be included as an Olympic-class event in Tokyo. The British four is rumoured to be the top women’s boat and will aim to build on the season’s success so far. McKellar is one of the younger athletes making the journey to Japan this summer; after a reasonably successful under23 career, she first appeared on the international circuit in 2017 as part of the women’s four that finished seventh overall at the World Rowing Championships. After a brief hiatus from the four to race the pair with Hatty Taylor through the 2018 season, picking up a bronze along the way, they both joined the women’s eight for the 2019 season. Here, they secured a silver at the Europeans but could not mount an effective charge at that year’s World Rowing Championships against ‘the big four’ of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US. As already mentioned, Harriet Taylor and Rowan McKellar have remained almost inseparable throughout their rowing careers, and as such, Taylor has a similar senior record to McKellar. Joining the young duo is joined by Olympic silver medalist Karen Bennett, who only joined the British Team ‘properly’ in 2015. Completing the quartet is Rebecca Shorten, another relative youngster, though one with an impressive file. Shorten joined the national squad in 2017, when she rowed in the successful eight that collected a silver and bronze at the World Cup series, before moving into the four with Bennett for the 2018 season, where they stunned at the Europeans by clinching a silver medal but were unable to hold off the North American crews in a tight World Championship final. Since coming together, the four has had a positive season, with a Bronze at the 2021 Europeans and a Silver at World Rowing Cup II. As such, they’ll be looking to repeat a medal-winning performance at the Games but will be tested by relative unknowns from North America, Australia and New Zealand. 

Men’s Four

Coach: Robin Williams

With every gold medal from this event from the last five Olympiads laying in British hands, this crew has much to live up to. The crew has, so far, given us cause to be confident with gold at both the second World Cup and the European Championships. However, the real test will be the Australian men’s four, which is yet to race on the international scene. Similarly, the team will be wary of Canadian and US crews, which have the potential to mount an insurgent charge at the Olympic regatta. Sholto Carnegie is another relative youngster and first-time Olympian in this year’s team, but one with a promising track record. He was a part of the successful 2016 Under23 eight that took silver at the Under23 World Championships, repeating the same feat in the four for another two years. Since joining the senior team, he has remained in the four and has medaled at every regatta entered since 2018. The same can be said for the rest of the four, who have stayed together throughout the 2019 and 2021 seasons. This will be their first appearance at an Olympic event; many see the men’s four as the ‘second’ men’s sweep crew, with the eight stacked with returning talent. However, if the stars align, then this young crew might reign supreme in Tokyo Bay.

Women’s Quadruple Sculls

Coach: Lauren Fisher

Headed-up the the Hodgkins-Byrne sisters, this new-look British Women’s Quad has had a flying start to the season, with a silver medal at the 2021 European Rowing Championships. Mathilda has been racing for GB since 2014, and has remained faithful to sculling ever since, with highlights including gold in the double sculls at the 2016 World Rowing Under23 Championships. Sister Charlotte also began to train with GB in 2014, moving into the eight in 2016 where she took silver in the 2016 World Rowing Under23 Championships. The youngest member of the squad – Hannah Scott – is a newcomer to the senior team, though previously had a successful stint at Under23 level, with a silver in the pair and eight at the Under23 World Championships in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Lucy Glover is another young athlete, who first made a splash on the international junior scene with silver in the junior women’s quad in 2016, before moving up to collect gold and bronze in the same class at the Under23 Championships in 2017 and 2018, and another gold in 2019. This fresh quad is young, but dense with talent. They’ll be looking to mark Britain as a force to be reckoned with in this category in Tokyo.

Men’s Quadruple Sculls

Coach: Paul Stannard

As Dan Spring might say, this is the British boat that has suffered for too long from the ‘there of thereabouts’ disease. In fact, a British men’s quad has never medaled at the Olympics, often being forced to settle for lower positions behind the dominant European powers of Germany, Estonia and Italy, and Australia. Could this crew be the crew to change all that? Harry Leask joined the squad in 2015, and after a brief stint in the eight, has become something of a sculling specialist, having competed in every sculling class since. Angus Groom, meanwhile, has a score to settle in the quad after losing out on the podium in Rio to the likes of Germany, Australia and Estonia. Tom Barras is another lifelong sculler, having spent an extended season in the single and quad. Jack Beaumont is the other returning Olympian in this crew and suffered a loss alongside Groom in Rio. Beaumont – much like his crewmates – has an extended history of sculling, ever since competing in the quad twice at Junior World Championships in 2010 and 2011. The crew will face strong opposition from the Eastern European states, though they might take some comfort from the fact that the German quad has been unable to live up to its previous form. However, it remains to be seen if this quad will be the one to cure the ailment that has bedevilled British sculling for so long. 

Women’s Eight

Coach: Tom Pattichis

In a stunning 2016 final, the women’s eight of Great Britain for the first time climbed the podium, behind the US and ahead of Romania: can this crew repeat – or even supersede – this achievement? The crew have so far only raced once as a unit at this year’s European Championships, where they fell afoul of a rapid Romanian crew, who were followed across the line by the Dutch and Russians, leaving Britain off the podium in fourth. However, neither Russia nor the Netherlands will field an eight at the Olympics. Instead, GB will be joined by the four Oceanic and North American titans, along with the Chinese and Romanians. Since qualifying the boat at the 2019 World Championships, the crew has been overhauled, with only Fiona Gammond and Matilda Horn returning. As such, their first outing at the Europeans will have been something of a disappointment, but there is plenty of talent on board to make up for a sluggish start to the season. As mentioned, Fi Gammond was part of the eight that was highly competitive thought the post-Rio period, with medals at most of the major regattas. She also has experience in the four, where she helped secure a silver medal at the second World Cup in 2018. Sara Parfett first raced under the Union Jack in 2017 and has since spent much of her time in the four. Rebecca Edwards only joined British Rowing in 2019, and as such, the early stages of her international career have been derailed by covid-19. She raced the eight at the third 2019 World Cup. Chloe Brew is a relative newcomer to the squad, having first joined for the 2016 Under23 World Championships, whereas part of the eight, she took silver in a hotly contested final. Katherine Douglas has spent much of her rowing career in the eight, with silver medals at the 2018 European Rowing Championships and the second World Cup in 2017. Caragh McMurtry is a regular on the world rowing scene, first appearing at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships, where she took home a silver in the four. In more recent times, McMurtry has been a constant in both the four and eight, with appearances throughout 2017-19. It’s a similar story for Beccy Muzerie, who is also stepping up for the first time to the Olympic team this year. She’s spent much of her career in the four and eight, including a silver medal in the eight at the 2018 Glasgow European Championships. The final member of the eight is Emily Ford, who won successive medals at the World U23 Championships in 2015 and 2016 – a bronze in the four in the former and a silver in the eight at the latter. In 2017, Cox Matilda Horn coxed a new-look eight to silver and bronze medals at World Rowing Cups two and three and guided the boat to fifth at the World Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton. More recently, she was a member of the silver medal crew at the 2018 European Championships and qualified the eight for Tokyo at the 2019 World Championships. As mentioned above, commentators suggest that it’s the women’s four that has the greatest chance of securing a medal in Tokyo. Still, it’s perfectly possible that the women’s eight could also break through in a small field, especially against crews of unknown strength. 

Men’s Eight

Coach: Steve Trapmore

It’s been a strong year so far for the British men’s eight, with gold medals at both the European Championships and the second World Cup. After gold in Rio, these eight will be looking to replicate the success of their predecessors; with a mix of debutants and old-times on board, their chances so far are looking good. Having left the OUBC Blue Boat in 2018 under a haze of controversy, Joshua Bugajski has so far proved himself on the international scene. He took silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and a bronze at the World Championships the same year. It’s a similar story for Jacob Dawson, who took silver and bronze beside Bugajski, but Dawson also managed to take a bronze in the four at the 2018 World Championships. Thomas George is a well-known name at Caversham and has raced with GB since his first appearance at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2012. The engine of the boat is, of course, Mohamed Sbihi. The only Olympic Champion in this boat, Sibihi hopes to claim gold in his second boat class in Tokyo. He has a stellar record on paper, having dominated in the four around Rio; he looks to be setting himself up for a third Olympic medal, after a bronze in the eight in 2012. At only 24 years of age, Charles Elwes is one of the youngest Olympians this year, but despite his age, he has a strong record, having medaled at every World Rowing event entered since 2015. Another young talent, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, has spent much of this time with GB in the eight and has impressed with consistently high results throughout the 2018-19 seasons. Another Olympic debutant who first appeared at the 2012 World Rowing Junior Championships, James Rudkin, looks to make his name on the Olympic stage after a successful two years in the eight. Brother of Emily Ford racing in the women’s eight, Thomas Ford is also making his first appearance at an Olympic regatta, having first entered the British Squad as an Under23 in 2013. Cox Henry Fieldman rounds out the eight and has a wealth of international experience under his belt, stretching back to 2008; he’s been with the eight since the start of the 2017 season. 

Spares

Madeleine Arlett

Maddie has been with GB since 2015 and has recently begun to excel on the international lightweight scene, with a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in the lightweight single. Domestically, she held the national Under23 Lightweight Double title for three consecutive years before winning her first international medal in 2017 in the same class.

Morgan Bolding

Morgan has been an integral part of the men’s eight this season, winning golds in every race entered. He previously raced the pair and the eight at Under23 level.

Saskia Budgett

Saskia narrowly missed qualification for Tokyo Games in the double scull, a blow after a strong start to the season with a bronze medal at the European Championships. She previously took gold and bronze in the quadruple sculls at the 2016 and 2017 World Rowing Under23 Championships, respectively.

Matthew Tarrant

A true household name, Matt Tarrant has been on the scene since 2007 at the World rowing Junior Championships. He could not qualify the pair at the POQR earlier this year, having previously been highly successful in the eight. This is his first Olympic selection.

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